Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy launched a counter-offensive on Friday, saying all he wanted as a shareholder was good governance; he had neither questioned Vishal Sikka’s work nor sought money or position for his children.

Murthy first released a short statement expressing “extreme anguish” over the “allegations, tone and tenor” of the board’s statement. He then went on to release a nine-page letter he had written to the company advisors on August 14 where he raised issues of “plummeting” corporate governance since September 2015.

“I believe that the fault lies with the current board ... We just want the board to protect the institution rather than protecting some individuals like the board is doing today," Murthy had said in his mail to advisors.

Murthy stressed he did not want Infosys board to “drive the institution to death” through serious governance “deficits”. “My concern primarily was the deteriorating standard of corporate governance,” he said.